Early Hoops Hype: Florida at Kansas, Friday at 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday, December 5, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
FLORIDA vs. No. 11 KANSAS
When: Friday, 9 p.m. (ET)
Where: Phog Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kan.
Records: UF 3-3, Kansas 5-1
TV: ESPN (w/Jon Sciambi, Dick Vitale and Holly Rowe)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (w/Mick Hubert and Bill Koss)
STAKES, STARS & STATS
> UF's return game in ESPN's Big 12/SEC Challenge sends the Gators to historic Phog Allen Fieldhouse for just the second time in program history. The only other visit came Dec. 7, 1994 -- under Coach Lon Kruger and the Gators eight months removed from their first Final Four run -- with the Jayhawks winning 69-63 behind forward Raef LaFrentz and point guard Jacque Vaughn (now head coach of the Orlando Magic). ... UF is 2-3 all-time against KU, with a 2-1 mark under Coach Billy Donovan that includes last year's 67-61 win at the O'Connell Center behind 18 points, six assists and four steals from Scottie Wilbekin (right). That victory, despite a 26-point, 11-rebound night from eventual No. 1 overall NBA pick Andrew Wiiggins (also right), was the first of what became a 30-game winning streak for Florida that ended four months later against Connecticut in the Final Four.
> UF is looking for significant improvement from an offense that has yet to hit 70 points this season and shot a collective 34.2 percent from the floor and abysmal 26 from 3-point range in going 1-2 at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament last week in the Bahamas. During losses to Georgetown and North Carolina, plus the win over Alabama-Birmingham, too many of those misses, Donovan pointed out, 
occurred in transition opportunities; in other words, missed opportunities. ... He's not 100 percent, but the Gators still need junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith (10.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg) to get more of what he does into the game. Hampered by two fractured bones in his left (non-shooting) hand, Finney-Smith (dunking left) is hitting just 35.9 percent from the floor and 29.2 from 3-point range [Note: Those numbers practically mirror the team's offensive percentages for the season: 38.7 and 29.5, respectively]. His hand certainly has impacted his statistics, but Donovan wants more energy, effort and intensity from UF's best all-around player. ... Florida point guard Kasey Hill (8.2 ppg, 3.5 apg) got off to a poor start this season, but found some rhythm and confidence in Atlantis with a career-high 20 points in the loss to Carolina. Hill was more aggressive attacking the paint and got to the free-throw line 12 times against the Tar Heels. The Gators need that element of his game if the offense is going to come around. ... Junior guard Michael Frazier (15.2 ppg) leads the Gators in scoring and is providing some nice help on the boards (6.5 rebounds pg), but his marksmanship from 3-point range is paramount for the offense. While he went 4-for-10 against Carolina, he's still just seven of his last 21 attempts from distance. ... Junior guard Eli Carter (12.5 ppg) is "questionable," at best, for the game due to a sore left ankle. Carter played two of the three games in the Bahamas -- where he made just two of 18 field-goal attempts in the tournament -- and was held out of practice all week. 
> The Kansas team that went 25-10 and won its 10th straight Big 12 Conference title last season lost two players (both freshmen) to the NBA in Wiggins (now with the Minnesota Timberwolves) and center Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers). The Jayhawks still returned three starters, including forward Perry Ellis (15.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg, pictured left), along with guards Wayne Selden (7.7 ppg, 3.7 apg) and Frank Mason (9.8 ppg, 3.7 apg). ... KU was massacred by top-ranked Kentucky 72-40 in the Champions Classic at Indianapolis last month, but over the weekend picked up a nice 61-56 win over No. 21 Michigan State in capturing the Orlando Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports. Along the way in Orlando, the Jayhawks defeated Tennessee by 15, so UF will be the third Southeastern Conference foe in seven games for the Jayhawks. ... While the Gators are struggling on offense, the Jayhawks haven't exactly set the nets on fire; they're 42 percent from the floor and 32.6 from distance, but both of those are better than their opponents (39.5 and 31.8, respectively). ... KU has won sold out 214 consecutive games at 60-year-old Allen Fieldhouse, dating to the 2001-02 season, and went unbeaten at home four of the last seven seasons.
SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE 
* Minus-8 - Florida's assists (70) compared to turnovers (78) through six games. Then again, it's hard to get assists when you're not making shots.
* Plus-29.8 - Hill's field-goal percentage difference from his first three games (3-for-24 = 12.5 percent) to the last three (11-for-26 = 42.3 percent).
* .952 - Kansas home winning percentage in Coach Bill Self's 12 seasons, thanks to a 177-9 record. That's right, Self (right) has lost just nine home games in a dozen years.
* 2 - McDonald's All-America freshmen on the KU roster (which is two more than UF has this season). Forward Clifford Alexander, out of Chicago, was named the 2014 Naismith National High School Player, and is averaging 9.7 points and 6.0 rebounds off the bench. Guard Kelly Oubre, a New Orleans product by way of Vegas factory Findley Prep, has played sparingly through six games at 2.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per.
WATCH FOR IT
In a perfect UF world, the Gators get more shots to fall and are able to set up the full-court press. The Jayhawks have shown a penchant for turning the ball over, with 75 assists versus 75 turnovers.
